The Crusades

Essay # 3489

History > European
History > Middle Eastern
Religion and Theology > Christianity
Religion and Theology > Islam

The Crusades

This paper looks at the history of the Crusades during the Middle Ages, the military campaigns, the religious factors, the leaders, and the brutality.

1,945 words () | 6 sources | 2001 United States

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Paper Summary:

This paper provides an in depth history of the medieval Crusades, and reviews James Reston Jr.'s book on the "Crusades, Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade". The author discusses the brutal and savage events of the three Christian expeditions to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1192, and the two most famous leaders in the final campaign, Richard the Lionheart, monarch of England, and Saladin, the Moslem conqueror.

From the Paper:

"James Reston Jr's Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade presents the Crusades as he sees it. In the past the books that present the Crusades have managed to create a glamorous and romantic image of a war that caused destruction for years. The book relates events in a manner that we realize that the crusades were among the most destructive wars on earth. In the name of God and civilization, massive expeditions created havoc on earth. Three Christian expeditions to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1192, took place each of which was cruel to any person that stood between the crusaders and the recovery of their religious shrines from Islam - especially those in Jerusalem . Reston clearly states that there was nobility involved nor was there even a hint of romance. The Crusades were just a massive butchering of people regardless, of caste, creed or race."